Trump moves to end asylum protections for Central Americans

The Trump administration on Monday moved to end asylum protections for most Central American migrants in a major escalation of the president’s battle to tamp down the number of people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

According to a new rule published in the Federal Register, asylum seekers who pass through another country first will be ineligible for asylum at the U.S. southern border. It comes amid the latest war of words initiated by President Donald Trump against Democrats in general and a few liberal congresswomen in particular.

The new rule, expected to go into effect Tuesday, also applies to children who have crossed the border alone.

There are some exceptions:

If someone has been trafficked.

If the country the migrant passed through did not sign one of the major international treaties that govern how refugees are managed (though most Western countries have signed them).

If an asylum seeker sought protection in a country but was denied, then a migrant could still apply for U.S. asylum.

But the move by Trump’s administration was meant to essentially end asylum protections as they now are on the southern border.

Legal challenge likely

The policy is almost certain to face a legal challenge.

U.S. law allows refugees to request asylum when they arrive at the U.S. regardless of how they did so. There is an exception for those who have come through a country considered to be “safe,” but the Immigration and Nationality Act, which governs asylum law, is vague on how a country is determined “safe”; it says “pursuant to a bilateral or multilateral agreement.”

Migrants cross the Suchiate River on a raft from Tecun Uman, in Guatemala, to Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, in June. According to a new rule expected to go into effect Tuesday, asylum seekers who pass through another country first will be ineligible for asylum at the U.S. southern border. (Jose Cabezas/Reuters)

Right now, the U.S. has such an agreement, known as a “safe third country,” only with Canada. Under a recent agreement with Mexico, Central American countries were considering a regional compact on the issue, but nothing has been decided.

Trump administration officials say the changes are meant to close the gap between the initial asylum screening that most people pass and the final decision on asylum that most people do not win. But immigrant rights groups, religious leaders and humanitarian groups have said the Republican administration’s policies amount to a cruel and callous effort to keep immigrants out of the country.

Along with the administration’s recent effort to send asylum seekers back over the border, Trump has tried to deny asylum to anyone crossing the border illegally and restrict who can claim asylum, and Attorney General William Barr recently tried to keep thousands of asylum seekers detained while their cases play out.

Nearly all of those efforts have been blocked by courts.

Trump renews attack

Trump renewed his attacks Monday against “radical left congresswomen” — understood to refer to a group of women that includes Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, all women of colour.

After claiming over the weekend that “progressive Democrat congresswomen” should “go back” to the countries they came from — though all of the women are American citizens and three of them were born in the U.S. — on Monday he demanded they apologize for “the foul language they have used, and the terrible things they have said.”

The clash between Republican and Democratic lawmakers over immigration policy has been escalating in recent weeks as details emerge of poor conditions at migrant detention camps near the southern U.S. border.

Tens of thousands of Central American migrant families cross the border each month, many claiming asylum. The numbers have increased despite Trump’s derisive rhetoric and hard-line immigration policies. Border facilities have been dangerously cramped and crowded well beyond capacity. The Department of Homeland Security’s watchdog found fetid, filthy conditions for many children. And lawmakers who travelled there recently decried conditions.

Immigration courts are backlogged by more than 800,000 cases, meaning many people won’t have their asylum claims heard for years despite more judges being hired.

People are generally eligible for asylum in the U.S. if they fear returning to their home country because they would be persecuted based on race, religion, nationality or membership in a particular social group.

During the budget year for 2009, there were 35,811 asylum claims, and 8,384 were granted. During 2018 budget year, there were 162,060 claims filed, and 13,168 were granted.